President Bush Threatens to Veto Senate Housing Bill
Even as many Republicans lined up in support of a Senate housing bill, and even as many mortgage lenders withdrew some of their objections to the housing relief bill, the White House is threatening to veto the bill, which is expected to go for a final vote next week. The Financial Times reports on the objections President Bush has to the Senate housing bill:
The White House said it approved of certain provisions, such as a plan to create a new, stricter regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage companies.
But it was opposed to other elements such as a $4bn allowance for local governments to buy foreclosed properties and the diversion of funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay for up to $300bn in guarantees for mortgages refinanced to reflect lower home values.
This could be a tactic to force increased negotiations, since the bill probably doesn’t have enough support to override a veto, even though it probably has enough Republican support to pass.
Another issue that is surfacing in this whole legislative ordeal is the fact that Senator Chris Dodd, one of the main architects of the bill, is said to have ties to Countrywide Financial. Some mortgage lenders have special programs, and Senator Dodd was made a member of the Countrywide’s VIP program.
Senator Dodd, of course, denies any preferential treatment for mortgage lenders — specifically Countrywide. But some Republicans are raising questions about whether or not the Senate housing bill would be too helpful to mortgage lenders at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. This is leading to questions of having the bill sent back to committee for further scrutiny, and investigation into benefits accorded Senator Dodd as a member of the VIP mortgage program at Countrywide.
In sort of related news, Bank of America is seeing its bid for Countrywide fall rather rapidly.
Tags: Senate housing bill, President Bush housing bill, home mortgage loan, mortgage loan blog,
mortgage lenders, Senator Dodd Countrywide, Bank of America Countrywide
June 24th, 2008 at 10:39 am
[…] of the issues that many mortgage lenders have with the Senate housing bill is the requirement for a national mortgage licensing system. They feel that it would require too […]